ISAKOV AVENUE TO BE FULLY RENOVATED THIS YEAR
By Karine Danielian

AZG Armenian Daily
31/05/2006

Frunze Basentsian, head of the Utility Department at the Yerevan
Municipality, informed at that soon they will begin renovation works
of the Isakov Avenue. The Isakov Avenue will be made a highway that
will lead from Yerevan to “Zvartnots” airport.

It is also envisaged that the gambling houses and the furniture
shops will be separated from the streets by iron decorative walls. In
general, there are 81 objects on the road that have passed the allowed
line for the construction. All of the owners of these shops and other
buildings are warned about coming destruction. New roads 6,5 meters
wide will pass by these buildings. Another 7 meters wide highway
leading to the airport will be constructed.

In general, it is envisaged that AMD 5,1 billion of construction
works will be done in this sphere.

Besides, AMD 755 million will be spent on reconstruction of damaged
buildings. 11 more damaged buildings will be underpinned this year. In
total, there are 72 damaged buildings in Yerevan. By end August,
the specialist will complete the elaboration of the reconstruction
plans of these buildings.

Besides, AMD 2,4 billions will be allocated for the asphalt works of
the Yerevan streets. Basentsyan assured that the illumination will
be resorted in 13 more streets, including the territory stretching
from the Davitashen bridge to the orchards of Arabkir district.

‘ARMENIA SHOULD BECOME THE COUNTRY THAT WE DREAM OF’
Says Artur Baghdasarian

AZG Armenian Daily
31/05/2006

Artur Baghdasarian, leader of “Orinats Yerkir” party, is going to
remain a common deputy of RA National Assembly, and is not going to
be the party’s leader.

As for the members of OY faction, they are determined to talk over
Baghdasrain to remain the party’s leader.

Anyway, Samvel Balasanian, head of “OY” faction, informed ArmInfo
that one can consider that he have already resigned from his
position. Meanwhile deputy Hovhannes Margarian also assured that he
has always been and will always be a member of “OY” party, even till
the end of time.

As for the probable cooperation of “OY” with the opposition forces,
Balasanian said that at present, they don’t hold any negotiations on
that issue. At the same time he didn’t excluded the cooperation of
his party with the opposition forces.

‘BLACK BOXES’ IN SATISFACTORY CONDITION

AZG Armenian Daily
31/05/2006

The “black boxes” of the crashed A320 of Armavia air carrier are in
satisfactory condition. According to “Ekho Moskvi” Radio Station,
the “black boxes” are opened by the specialists of the Inter-state
Aviation Committee. ITAR-TASS informed that the testimonies from the
“black boxes” will be decoded in a month.

On May 27, the “black boxes” were taken to Paris from Moscow for the
specialists to open them. After that, the chips from the “black boxes”
will be taken to Moscow for decoding.

THE PARLIAMENT TURNED DOWN TWO DRAFTS

A1+
[07:28 pm] 31 May, 2006

The draft amendment to the RA Criminal Code which presupposed the
criminal punishment of those businessmen who have refused to pay
6 million AMD was rejected once again in the Parliament. The main
opponents of the draft were the faction “People’s Deputy” and the
Orinats Yerkir, as well as independent deputies.

“The draft amendment to the criminal code was brought to the Parliament
at the end of the previous year and at the beginning of the current
year. This is the third time it has been turned down in the NA,”
member of the OYP Hovhannes Margaryan said.

“The punishment for any economic crime must be economic too. If
the businessmen has appropriated 1000 AMD, he must first restore
the loss and then pay x percent of it. If you take him to prison,
who will pay his debts?” independent deputy Khachatur Suqiasyan told
“A1+”. According to him, it would be better for this person to make
payments and continue his activity. “In other cases if a company uses
fabricated documents and harms the country, they can be considered
criminals”, he thinks.

Besides this, another draft was rejected today. The draft amendments
to the RA Law on Income about registering the estate and income of
individuals was rejected with 54 deputies against is and one for. It
presupposed that the individuals with income of more than 500 thousand
AMD were to register their estate and income.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE WILL BE OPEN FOR JOURNALISTS

A1+
[08:31 pm] 31 May, 2006

The second President of the third Parliament of the RA will be elected
tomorrow, and the heads of the committees will be elected on Friday,
the last day of the special session. Today Minister of Culture Hasmik
Poghosyan was in the Parliament accompanied by the deputies of the
United Labor Party and its head Gourgen Arsenyan. Let us remind you
that Hasmik Poghosyan’s candidacy was put forward by the ULP.

“This sphere is a new one for me,” Hasmik Poghosyan said. But she
promised that she will work with the same principles as before in
the field of culture. In her activity she will base upon the plan of
the party which has put her forward. “Their attitude towards culture
is very close to me. Gourgen Arsenyan has long supported cultural
events. This is the reason of our long-lasting cooperation,” Hasmik
Poghosyan informed the journalists today.

As for detailed plans for future, she considered it early to speak
about them but promised the journalists to keep in touch with them
the same way as before, “The Ministry of Culture will always be open
for the journalists,” Mrs. Poghosyan said.

AZERI DM SAYS HIS GOVERNMENT WANTS PEACEFUL SETTLEMENT OF KARABAKH CONFLICT

Armenpress
May 31 2006

BAKU, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS: Azerbaijani defense minister Safar Abiyev
said his government wanted a peaceful solution to the Karabakh
conflict. Abiyev was quoted by Trend news agency as saying that
possibilities for peaceful settlement of the conflict did not run
out yet.

“Now is the time to take up a principled and objective stance- to
recognize Armenia as aggressor, to demand that it respect international
laws and pull out its troops from occupied Azerbaijani territories,”
he was quoted by Trend as saying.

He said the people of Azerbaijan will never out up with occupation
of their land and will apply all ways to restore its territorial
integrity stipulated by international laws. Abiyev made the remarks
while addressing a CIS Defense Ministers Council meeting in Baku.

Armenia refused to send defense minister Serzh Sarkisian to Baku to
attend the meeting because Azeri authorities failed to guarantee
the security of the Armenian delegation. The Armenian ministry of
defense said in a statement it has been informed by the Moscow-based
Secretariat of the Council that the Azeri authorities have refused
to guarantee the security of the Armenian participants.

ARMENIA JOINS QUIT AND WIN ANTI-SMOKING CAMPAIGN

Armenpress
May 31 2006

YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS: Armenia joined an international
anti-smoking campaign, Quit and Win, in 2004. The campaign is held
once in every two year in all big cities of the planet . In 2004 some
100 countries and more than 1 million participated in it.

In 2004 in Armenia 450 people responded to the call to quit smoking
and 111 managed to resist the temptation to smoke doing the campaign’s
span , but only 35 quit smoking for ever.

This year the anti-smoking campaign was held from May 2 to May 29
and out of 588 smokers 25 resisted the temptation and after passing a
special test they reached the final stage . Some of the winners were
given precious presents. Two, a male and a female, will also travel
to Finland to take part in an international prize winning event.

However, according to Armenian doctors, the number of smokers in
Armenia is on the constant rise Some experts estimate that more than
half of all males are smokers. They say the number of smoking women
also increases, the bulk of them in Yerevan.

BURNS SUPPER AND THE BRITISH EMBASSY HELP MOTHERS AND CHILDREN IN GEGHARKUNIK AND LORI MARZ

Armenpress
May 31 2006

YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS: The British Embassy in Armenia held a
press conference today to mark the handover of funds raised at the
2006 Burns Supper to the beneficiary, Project Nova.

This year the 8th annual Burns Supper raised AMD 9 Million ($20,000),
for the purchase of much needed medical equipment for the Martuni
Community Maternity Hospital in Gegharkunik Marz. The purchase of
the equipment will be arranged by Project NOVA, which will receive
the money on behalf of the beneficiary on the day of press conference.

Through its partner, Project NOVA, will provide an E150 Breeze
Ventilator to the Martuni Maternity hospital. There are approximately
1100 babies delivered in this hospital each year of which about 120
need intensive care.

Martuni Maternity Hospital also looks after women with complicated
pregnancies both from the Martuni and the Vardenis regions of
the marz. This donation will provide the necessary intensive care
facilities on-site so that there will no longer be a need to refer
babies and pregnant women to clinics in Yerevan.

Additionally, a small portion of this donation will be used to renovate
an ultrasound device in Alaverdi Maternity Hospital to upgrade the
diagnostic capacity of the clinic. The 2006 Burns Supper raised
funds through the sale of the tickets and through an auction on the
night. The impressive amount raised was due to the generous support
of sponsors: HSBC bank, the Marriott Armenia hotel, the Yerevan Brandy
Factory, Hovnanian International and British Airways.

The embassy said it was also very grateful to the generous prizes
offered in the auction by the following companies: London-Yerevan
insurance company, Tufenkian Rugs, Artbridge cafe, Hugo Boss, Davidoff,
First Floor arts salon, Dolmama restaurant, Phoenicia restaurant,
Arena bowling club and Litte medical center.

The Burns Supper was started by close friends of Burns a few years
after his death in 1796 as a tribute to his memory. For about 200
years on or around his birthday, January 25th, Scots both at home and
abroad remember Robert Burns enjoying a traditional Scottish meal,
the drinking of Scottish whiskey and the recitation of works by,
about, and in the spirit of Robert Burns.

This year the USAID-supported Project NOVA began its work in Kotayk
and Gegharkunik Marzes to strengthen access to maternal and child
health services among rural populations.

The project collaborates with the maternity hospitals, outpatient
women’s consultations and rural primary health care facilities to
reinforce their capacity to offer higher quality of life. Project
activities include training, equipping and upgrading rural health
posts and strengthening the overall management and supervision of care.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN STUDENTS TO FIGHT FOR ECOLOGY

Panorama.am
17:12 31/05/06

About 40 students from different regions of Armenia will participate
in the solution of nature protection challenges in the regions
of Armenia. Today Forest Armenia public organization summed up
long-term projects which were launched in December 2004. During that
time, a number of seminars were held and 4 out of 12 public ecology
organizations were selected to conduct seminars and training courses
for totally 150 students. According to Mher Sharoyan, coordinator
on relations with public organizations, at the end of the project
most active 40 students were selected who will cooperate with the
selected public organizations and local government units to raise
environmental challenges at the government through their donors.

FROM ARMENIA TO COLUMBIA IS ONE STEP IF YOU HANG THE FLAG UPSIDE DOWN

Panorama.am
17:33 31/05/06

Today NA extraordinary session discussed the draft law “On state
flag of Armenia.” The draft was submitted by the Ministry of Culture
and Youth Affairs on behalf of the Armenian government. NA decided
to give a rapid solution to the draft with all three readings to be
concluded today.

NA session started with 99 deputies but during the discussion of the
draft law only some 20 deputies were left. NA deputy Viktor Dallakyan
expressed his concern saying that he cannot understand those deputies
who have initiated this extraordinary session but are not present
during the discussion of the draft law.

V. Dallakyan was asked two compare this government-initiated draft with
the one proposed by Orinats Yerkir. “It is not within parliamentary
ethics that the draft proposed by Orinats Yerkir is not discussed
any more. It would be better to have it as an alternative,” he
said. However, he prefers the one submitted by the government though
it has its shortcomings as well. V. Dallakyan thinks that the flag of
Armenia should be stuck on the cars of the Armenian president, prime
minister and NA Chairman. He has suggested that in the parliament.

NA plans to finish the discussion of the draft and adopt it as soon
as tomorrow.